Content protection system for optical data storage disc

Abstract

An optical data storage disc contains at least an “X data area” and a user data area, the latter of which may include for example a video game or a movie. The disc drive internally loads and runs a program (the “X program”) resident in the X data area before the user data is accessed. The X program may operate on data that are read from the disc or delivered by host device to the disc drive. The X program generates a result that is delivered to the interface between the disc drive and a host device (e.g., a cell phone or a PDA), and the host device reads the result and compares it with an expected result. If a predetermined correspondence exists, the disc drive is authorized to read the user data. If the predetermined correspondence does not exist, the user data cannot be read. The content of the X data area, including the X program, never appears at an interface between the disc drive and a host device (e.g., a cell phone or PDA). Thus even if the user data are copied onto another media, that media will not contain the X program, thereby preventing the user data from being read.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.